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October 26, 2014

Haji Muhammad-Tahir-i-Malmiri, who was a historian, a teacher
of wide repute and the father of Adib Taherzadeh, attained the presence of
Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akká. He writes in his memoirs:

Whenever I came into the presence of the Blessed Beauty, if
there were anything I wanted to ask, I would say it by the way of the heart,
and He would invariably answer me. This is because, in His presence, the tongue
was powerless to utter one word. I always sat in His presence spellbound,
oblivious of my own self. One of the questions I wanted to ask concerned the
station of the Holy Imams. [1] I wanted to know whether they were equal or, as
I thought, some of them were exalted above others. For about six months I
wanted to ask this question, but every time I attained His presence I forgot to
think of it in my heart.

One day, as I was going to the Mansion to attain His
presence, I kept on continuously reminding myself about this question so that I
might remember to communicate it through the heart to Bahá'u'lláh. Even as I
was climbing the steps of the Mansion I was thinking of it. Suddenly I heard
the voice of Bahá'u'lláh greeting me saying 'Marhaba' (Welcome). I looked up
and saw Him standing at the top of the stairs. I forgot everything! He went to
His room, invited me in, and told me to be seated. I sat by the door. He then
paced up and down and revealed a Tablet [2] in my name. The Tablet was in
Persian and halfway through it he said, 'The Imams all came from God, spoke of
God and all returned to Him.' [3] This answered my question and I realized that
their station was equal. [4]

In another instance, Haji Muhammad-Tahir writes:

In my heart I often begged the Blessed Beauty to enable me
to lay down my life as a martyr in His path. Every time that I turned to Him in
my heart with this plea, he would smile at me and reveal to me the signs of His
pleasure and bounties ... until one day when these thoughts entered my mind, he
turned to me and said, 'You must live to serve the Cause...'[4]

[1] 'Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, was according to
Bahá'í belief the legitimate successor of Muhammad, and the first Imam. Ten of
his descendants succeeded him and are known as the holy Imams. The Qá'im is
believed by Shí'ah Islam to be the return of the twelfth Imam.

October 19, 2014

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was about twenty-four years old, the most
terrible crisis which Bahá'u'lláh and His family ever had to meet, developed in
Adrianople, when once again they were on the eve of banishment. A banishment
far more cruel than the three that had preceded it, for now this uniquely
united family was to be torn asunder, Baha'u'llah sent to a distant city, a
secret destination, His wife and children to another secret destination;
forever parted, and forever lost, one to the other.

'Abdu’l-Bahá sought out the officials. Again and again He
went to them. What He said has not been recorded--only that "He pleaded", "He persisted",
and that the officials "seemed unable to put the measure into
execution."

While this measure was pending, news of it reached the
believers of Adrianople and they rushed in a body to the house of Baha'u'llah,
frantic at the thought of separation from Him. In such a state of agitation and
despair one old man seized a knife and crying, "If I must be separated from my Lord, I will go now and join
my God," cut his throat.

A scene of wild confusion followed, during which a cordon of
police surrounded the frenzied crowd and attempted brutally to control it.

It was then that 'Abdu’l-Bahá suddenly appeared in their
midst. A lightning flash of power and a superhuman force was felt by all as
they heard His "impassioned and vehement words", denouncing the
cruelty of the police, demanding the presence of the governor.

In telling the story ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sister, Bahiyyih Khánum,
told Juliet Thompson: "We had never before seen my brother angry."

So swift was the effect of this anger that the governor was
at once sent for. He hurried to the scene and, witnessing it, said: "We
cannot separate these people. It is impossible."

Thus it was that about seventy devotees were allowed to
accompany their Divine Beloved, Baha’u’llah, to ‘Akka.

(Adapted from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
The Center of the Covenant’, by Juliet Thompson)

October 1, 2014

Leaving the city of Qum, Faizi’s Muslim family settled well
in Tehran. Shortly after they were joined by Faizi's newly married brother and
his wife. Because their father was worried about his young son getting lost in
the big, busy city, Faizi was left to studying on his own at home.When his brother became aware of this
situation, he was concerned that he had not been registered in any school and
persuaded their father that it would be better to send him to school. Having
already sent his eldest son to a school run by Baha'is, their father agreed to
send Faizi to the Baha'i Tarbiyat School for boys, which was near where they
lived, so there was no danger of him getting lost. His older brother arranged
for him to be interviewed by the principal of the school.

Early one morning, Faizi, accompanied by his older brother,
set off for Tarbiyat School, the younger one in trepidation of what awaited
him, the older one happy that he was going to entrust his dear brother to the
daily care of a benevolent institution. The classes were already in session
when they arrived and the principal, 'Aziz Misbah, was waiting for them in his
office. How different was the young Faizi's reception at this school compared
to what he had received earlier at the religious school (maktab) in Qum, how genial and kindly Mr. Misbah
was compared to the so-called teachers in his hometown. No wonder that, as soon
as Faizi met this much-loved principal he was immediately drawn to him. After
welcoming the two brothers the principle asked Faizi a few questions to ascertainhis
level of literacy and decided to place his new pupil in grade five.